The Archie Archives (Sick)
by watermelloncat
Summary: A series of sickfics in Riverdale staring Archie Andrews. I will add new stories as I go along as I'm finding this quite enjoyable. These are my first posts on this website so please, please, please feel free to correct me and comment on my posts about anything you wish. Comment or message me for any requests or suggestions, I would really love to hear from you all.
1. Betty

**Betty:**

Betty breathed a puff of steam as she stepped out of the warm sanctuary of her house, into the freezing outside air of the morning. She adjusted the shoulder strap of her bag as she descended the outside stairs and onto the path, walking to the end before turning towards the Andrew's place next door. As she continued her way, she looked cautiously through the windows of her own house to see if her mother was watching. Seeing no one there she strode confidently up to the front door of the Andrews residence and knocked. A few moments later the door swung open to reveal a very tired looking Fred Andrews. "Good morning Mr Andrews. I was wondering if Archie wanted to walk to school with me today?" Betty greeted and asked cheerfully. Mr Andrews offered her a small smile in greeting before saying "I'm sorry Betty. Archie's not coming to school today, he was up most of the night with a fever." Running his hand through his hair, he watched as Betty's expression dropped and she sighed. "Oh… All right then. I'll just be on my way" She exclaimed at a loss for words. "Do you need me to get you anything?" She asked as an afterthought. "No, we'll be fine, thank you." Mr Andrews assured her. "I'll tell him you stopped by" he finished closing the door.

The walk to school was lonely for Betty. Although her and Archie weren't dating they were just friends… or whatever they were. She still missed his company, how he talked about his music and let her have a rant about her parents while they walked. The trip without him seemed longer, and left her time to think about a lot more than she wanted to without him as a distraction. Eventually she made it into the school building, feeling the heat of the air warm her up. Still early, as per usual, she went into the Blue and Gold room to kill some time. As she was filing through her notes about possible articles she heard footsteps enter the room behind her. She turned around to see Jughead putting his bag on a table. "Morning, I didn't expect to see you in here so early" she said to him. "Why wouldn't I be in here? It's one of the few places I can escape from my life" Jughead said dully in his façade. "Well you have five minutes left to your escape" Betty joked looking at her watch. Jughead snickered walking toward her. "What do you think about an article about Gender in equality?" she asked looking through her ideas. "Nah, too cliché" Jughead dismissed "do something that no one's done before, no one's even thought of." "Like if the President was gay, would his husband be called the first Man?" Betty joked. "Yes" Jughead confirmed completely serious, a deadpan expression on his face. "I was kidding" Betty scoffed. "I'm not" Jughead confirmed. Before Betty could try and convince him that it was a bad idea, the bell interrupted her as it signalled for them to get to class. "I'll do some thinking" Jughead told her, grabbing his bag before walking out the door and disappearing into the crowd.

The rest of the school day wasn't memorable for Betty. Nothing new happened, she didn't learn much from any of her classes and Archie wasn't there to show the group any new music. Just a normal, boring, mundane school day. After school, she and Veronica had River Vixen practice for about an hour, thoroughly enjoying Cheryl yelling at everyone constantly. Afterward Veronica suggested that they go to Pop's or hit the town for a bit of fun, but Betty told her that she was going to go home and write the article for the school paper. "Okay, good luck. I'll see you tomorrow." Veronica said seeming unfased despite being blown off.

When Betty arrived home, she found her mum making dinner in the kitchen. "You're home late" she said seemingly unimpressed. "Sorry, I had River Vixen practice" Betty said taking off her bag and hanging it on a hook by the door. "Being in that Cheerleading squad is taking up a lot of your time. A lot of time that you could be putting into other things- ""But looks great on a College application" Betty interrupted her. "That may be, but being around that Blossom girl can't be good for your mental wellbeing." Betty rolled her eyes but remained quiet. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour, go take a shower now" her mum suggested.

After dinner Betty sat on her bed planning and writing the new article. She had called Jughead and tried to convince him that this was a bad idea but he refused to give in. Through the expression of some good points that the article would command attention, raise important questions and awareness, Betty had no choice but to accept on the condition that her parents would never find out. She wrote and she wrote until it was dark outside and her parents had gone to bed, finding the article surprisingly easy to write as the thoughts that she couldn't share with her family poured out of her. It wasn't until she heard an unusual sound that she stopped. Thinking nothing of it for the moment she continued writing. After another half of a paragraph she heard the sound again, a deep uneven sound produced in short succession. For a moment she panicked, thinking that someone was clambering around her house trying to break in, until she realised that it sounded like coughing. She sighed in relief as she remembered that Archie was sick and she would be hearing him cough through both of their windows. She closed the lid of her laptop and picked up her phone to text him.

 _Hey, are you all right? I can hear you coughing from here._

It was a few moments until she got a reply.

 _Hey, yeah, sorry. I don't mean to keep you up._

Archie wrote. Feeling horrible that he was being an annoyance.

 _No no. I'm writing an article right now, you're not keeping me up._

Betty quickly wrote back.

 _Oh, that's good. What's the article about?_

Archie asked, desperate for a conversation after a day of being bedridden.

Betty sent him a reasonably long text explaining how Jughead roped her into this situation after her making a distasteful joke. Making sure to included that she has actually ended up enjoying it.

 _Haha, typical Jug_

Archie replied after a reasonably long coughing spell.

 _Through and through_

Betty agreed.

 _You should get some rest_

She added, putting her laptop on the floor and getting into bed herself.

 _Yeah, probably both should aye. It's pretty late. Night Betty_

 _Good night Archie_

Betty texted before shutting off her phone and placing it on the table next to her, rolling back onto her bed and drifting off to sleep.


	2. Veronica

**Veronica:**

Three days before:

The rain poured outside as Archie Andrews entered the warm embrace of his house. "How was football practice?" Fred asked him from the kitchen. "Wet" Archie stated walking through the kitchen doorway. "Surprised they didn't cancel it. It's pouring buckets out there" Fred sighed to himself. "It's only rain" Archie shrugged "we play games in rain like this, so it wouldn't make any sense to cancel the practices." "Well, games and practices are different" Fred muttered. "Dinner'll be ready in twenty minutes. Go have a shower and change out of those clothes" Fred instructed Archie, noticing him shivering slightly and dripping water onto the wooden floor.

Present day:

Yesterday after school, Fred had noticed that Archie wasn't his usual self when he wasn't talking so much and seemed to be lacking his usual energy. So it didn't come as a surprise when the normally speedy kitchen bandit lethargically walked into the kitchen the next morning. Seeing that Archie's face was a little pale aside from his cheeks and that he had rings under his eyes, Fred immediately knew that he was sick. "Morning" Archie croaked running his hand over his face and through his hair. "Not feeling too good this morning, aye bud?" Fred asked sympathetically. "Nah" Archie shook his head slightly and closed his eyes. "You got any tests on at school today?" Fred enquired. Archie shook his head again, his throat too sore and too tired to speak. "All right, go on back up to bed." Archie surprisingly didn't argue and nodded before making his way slowly back up the stairs.

Veronica didn't surprise her biology teacher when she walked into class a little late. She immediately walked to her desk, not bothered by the rest of her classmates staring at her. After getting her things out of her bag she looked around the classroom sensing that someone wasn't there. Looking to the table next to her she noticed that Archie wasn't sitting there. Glancing around the rest of the room in case he had been moved she found him nowhere to be seen. She was worried for a moment before she reminded herself that _in all honesty, Archie isn't one to be on time, and you didn't arrive that late. Maybe he's still coming_ she assured herself. But there was still the drooping feeling in the pit of her stomach which grew as the minutes ticked by. She found herself distracted and looking at the door, still holding on to the little bit of hope that at some point Archie would walk in smiling through the door. It didn't happen.

When it didn't happen in the next class either, she began coming up with solutions on why he wasn't there. _There's a football meeting –_ no that wouldn't make any sense Reggie's here, she saw him two desks on the left diagonal from her. _He's in a meeting with Principal Weatherbee –_ no that wouldn't take two periods. _He's visiting FP_ – but he wouldn't do that at this time, not in school hours. _What if it was the only time that he could go see him?_ No that wouldn't happen either. _He's ditch-_ Veronica stop it! If he's not coming, he's not coming. Finally accepting that Archie wasn't going to be at school today, Veronica felt her mood sadden and her day get more boring.

Relived at that finality of lunch and the potential excitement that came with it, she smiled as she joined the rest of the group at their normal table. "Have any of you seen Archie today?" she asked still curious on where he's been, putting her tray down and sitting next to Kevin. "He's sick, he texted me this morning" Jughead told her before continuing to eat his lunch. "Oh, I didn't think he was the kind of person to get sick, you know?" Veronica exclaimed, kind of on edge and stunned at the outcome. "No, he's not. But every now and again something will knock him out for a few days and then he'll be good as new" Jughead said with his mouth full. "Stop doing that! It's disgusting!" Betty playfully scolded him giving him a slap on his arm. Veronica tuned out of the low-key flirting between the two while she thought of all the questions she wanted to ask. _When did you find out he was sick? Like, I know that it was this morning, but what time? How long do you think he'll be away for? What's he sick with?_ But she knew she couldn't ask all these questions because if she did they would figure out that something more than friendship was going on between her and Archie. So instead for the rest of lunch she listened intently to the conversation, trying to find any information that might come up about Archie's current state. But by the end she was still empty handed.

After school was over instead of walking back to her apartment, she found her feet walking to the Andrew's place. When she realised what she was doing she hesitated before deciding to keep going, her desire to see Archie overpowering her cowardice. Walking up the steps to their front door she took and deep breath before knocking on the door. It wasn't long before Fred Andrews opened the door to greet her. "Hi Mr Andrews. I was just here to see Archie, I heard he's sick." Veronica held her breath in suspense of being rejected in her pledge to see him. "Ah, yes. Bit of a bugger actually" Fred sighed. "Here, come inside" he ushered her in. "Can you do me a favour and give these papers to your mum? I didn't go into work today because of Arch. If you can understand." He rambled walking into the kitchen and picking up a folder of papers from a paper splayed bench. "Yes, I understand. Of course I'll give them to her" she said as she took the papers from him. As she got closer to him she noticed how tired and stressed he looked. "Mr Andrews, why don't you get some rest? You look tired" she suggested, finding it weird that she was instructing an adult. "I would but I've got so much work to do and I've got to look after Archie" he dismissed walking around the kitchen looking for things frantically. "Mr Andrews, with all due respect. You won't get much work done asleep on your feet, my mum will gladly take some more. She needs more of a distraction from my father's case" she tried desperately to calm him down. "And I can go look after Archie for a bit." Fred stopped and stood still for a moment, opened his mouth to say something, closed it again and blinked before saying, "that- that would wonderful... if you wouldn't mind" he said hesitantly, as if it would be too much to ask. "No it's completely fine" Veronica assured him. "Archie's in his room. He'll either be asleep or bored out of his mind. He'll be glad to see you" Fred called out to her as she mounted the stairs.

When she reached the top of the stairs Veronica paused by his bedroom door for a moment wondering if Archie is asleep. In an impulse, she gently pushed open the door, trying to be as quiet as possible in case he was sleeping. As she stepped into his room Archie stirred and rolled over in his bed. "Ronnie?" Archie asked sceptically, not sure if his eyes were betraying him. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Veronica whispered pulling his desk chair closer to his bed. "Nah, I've been half awake for ages" Archie reassured her, his voice heavy with sleep. "What are you doing here?" he added sitting up a bit in his bed. "I came to see you coz I missed seeing you at school" she told him. "I'm sorry, I was going to go but dad made me stay home" Archie apologised. "No, don't be sorry. You needed this day off to rest" Veronica consoled him. "What's that?" Archie asked gesturing to the folder Veronica was holding. She looked down at it while explaining "Ah, they're papers for your dad's work. He wanted me to give them to my mum because he didn't go in today." Archie let out a frustrated sigh, flopping back down on his bed "I told him he should go to work and that I'd be fine here on my own." "Are you sure about that?" Veronica asked rhetorically in reference to his appearance, "and you can't blame him for looking after you. That's just what parents do." Archie huffed in slight annoyance at being proven wrong before turning away to cough into his pillow. "You okay? That sounded pretty bad" Veronica asked after Archie had recovered. "Yeah, it's nothing" Archie lied and dismissed. "Are you absolutely sure?" she repeated not believing him for a second. "I'm perfectly fine" Archie lied. "Then it would be alright if I kissed you?" Veronica caught his bluff, watching his eyes go wide and him shake his head. She smiled and laughed a little, "then let me take care of you."


	3. Jughead

**Jughead:**

It was late morning when Jughead found Archie at his locker in between first and second period. "Sup" he greeted coming to stand in front of him, leaning on the next-door lockers as usual. Archie looked away from him locker to give Jughead a small smile before returning to his locker to gather his things from inside. "You okay?" Jughead asked eyebrows knitted together, after noticing how Archie didn't say a proper greeting like he normally did and that his movements were slow. Not even half the speed that they normally were. "Yeah" Archie lied. He didn't feel okay at all. His head, throat and muscles hurt in a way that only came with being sick, he'd begun to first notice this when he got to school and figured it was too late to turn back. "All right" Jughead said as the bell rang for second period before he could press the matter further, not believing Archie's response.

The next class they had was English, where they both sat next to each other, the whole time Jughead studying Archie. Noticing that his shoulders were dropped and he had his head down, lacking his normal, confident posture. He also looked extremely worn out and sniffled into his sleeve every so often. Very unusual behaviour for him to be displaying. Not wanting to confront him now, Jughead decided to wait until after class to bring the matter up.

Exiting the class room and into the hallway, Archie covered two sneezes into his jacket sleeve. "Are you sure you're okay?" Jughead reprimanded walking behind him. "Yeah, I told you I'm good" Archie repeated trying to discreetly rub his nose with his sleeve. "Come on Archie, we've been friends for how long now? I know you like a brother, and I know that you only sneeze when you're getting a cold" Jughead accused. Archie covered the lower half of his face with his hands, turning to the side to let out two more harsh sneezes, rolling his eyes at Jughead's comment. "Correction, when you do have a cold" Jughead amended. "Leave it alone, Jug" Archie warned, giving him a look that said _too close buddy_. "Look, by staying here you're only going to make it worse" Jughead lectured. "You look…" "Look like what?" Archie retorted defensively. "I can take it" he stifled a close-mouthed cough into his collar. Jughead threw his hands in the air in surrender, but was unfased by Archie's attitude. He knew that Archie would be one of the last people on the planet to admit weakness, so he sure as hell wouldn't admit to being sick. He was just going to push his boundaries until Archie let his guard down.

The next time Jughead saw Archie was in fifth period when Archie came and sat down at the table where Jughead was in the library. "Long time no see" Jughead greeted as his friend sat down across from him. "What are you up to?" Archie asked before letting out three rather congested sounding sneezes. "Bless you" Jughead condemned. "I swear if someone blesses me again I'm going to blow a gasket" Archie mumbled to himself. Jughead said nothing as he watched his friend lean across the table and drift off into some form of sleep. For the rest of the period Jughead having lost focus in his study, focused his attention on Archie. Who remained splayed across the table only moving to cough or sneeze every now and again. When the period was over he watched Archie slowly rise from his chair supporting himself with his hands on the table, as he rose he closed his eyes with a look of pain which Jughead could only assume meant that he had a headache. "Did you drive today?" Jughead asked spontaneously. "Yeah?" Archie answered, confused. "Give me your keys" he demanded. "What? Why?" Archie asked dumfounded, taking a step back. "I'm taking you home" Jughead told him, "you're forgetting that although I may not have a car like you, I can still drive." Archie looked conflicted and didn't move. "Come on" Jughead said putting his hand on his friend's shoulder and leading him along. Knowing that arguing wasn't going to get him anywhere Archie obliged and fished his keys out of his pocket, giving them to Jughead who gladly accepted them.

When they reached the car Jughead jumped in the front seat and adjusted the mirrors while Archie flopped himself into the passenger seat. Along the way back to Archie's house, Jughead swore to himself to stay focused on the road rather than using his peripheral vision to glance at his friend, half asleep leaning his head against the window. Trying to ignore the pitting feeling forming in his steely soul, caused by his friend being a sniffling and coughing mess.

Pulling into the Andrew's driveway, they both detached themselves from their seat belts and mounted the stairs at the front of the house. Jughead unlocked the door and lead Archie inside. "Are you going to make it to your room or are you crashing here?" Jughead asked noticing that Archie's energy was fast diminishing. Archie nodded to the top of the stairs too exhausted to talk. By some miracle they made it up the stairs, pausing a couple of times for Archie to sneeze or cough. Walking into Archie's room Jughead gave him a light push to his bed. "All right, how do you feel?" he asked him. "I'm okay, really" Archie lied again. Jughead refused to buy it and reached forward to feel his friend's forehead. "Jeez Arch, you're running hot" Jughead sighed, hand still on Archie's burning forehead. Archie sighed and closed his eyes feeling the cool pressure of Jughead's hand on his skin. "Go on, lie down" Jughead instructed gesturing for his friend to do so. Obliging, Archie felt Jughead pull up the comforter and lay it on top of him. "You need anything?" Jughead asked. "I'm fine, Jug" Archie said snuggling further down into his bed. "You get some sleep, yeah?" Jughead suggested walking out of Archie's room.

It was almost dark when Fred Andrews arrived home from work. Jughead had spent the last few hours checking on Archie, getting him tissues and making sure that he was still alive. "Wow, hey Jug! Didn't expect to see you here. Archie didn't tell me you were coming round" Fred exclaimed shutting the door and walking into the lounge where Jughead was. "I wasn't supposed to, but Archie got sick so I brought him home" Jughead clarified before continuing to explain what had happened that day. Fred came and sat in the chair across from Jughead to listening intently to his story. At the end Jughead stood up "I should be heading home, it's getting late." "You want a ride home?" Fred asked following him to the door. "No thanks, I'm good" Jughead dismissed walking through the door. "Hey, Jug" Fred said causing Jughead to turn around, "thanks for doing this." "No problem, anytime" he told Fred shutting the door behind him.

After Jughead had left, Fred immediately went up to Archie's room. Reaching the top of the stairs he lightly pushed on Archie's door and quietly stepped into his room. Walking over to Archie's bed he saw him sound asleep, a tissue still clutched in his hand. Stepping closer he placed the back of his hand to his son's fevered cheek. Archie flinched at the change in temperature but didn't wake up. After adjusting the blankets on the bed, Fred headed back down stairs giving his son much needed time to sleep.


	4. Kevin

**Kevin:**

The frost crunched under their feet as Betty and Archie walked down their road on the route to school. "Still not feeling great?" Betty asked sympathetically, noting that Archie hadn't said a word to her aside from saying hello. He had been feeling rundown for the last few days now, and everyone knew it. They had tried to get him to take it easy, but with a murder investigation it was hard to focus on something as simple as someone getting sick. He pursed his lips and slightly shook his head. Betty wondered how he thought he would be able to make it through a day of school if he didn't feel like talking, even just for the moment. Knowing that in his stubbornness he would never listen to reason, she held her tongue against her influences to send him home.

As the two walked through the school door, Betty excused herself to the school office to talk to Principal Weatherbee about the upcoming talent show. Meanwhile, Archie continued his way to his locker. When pulling out his Biology text books, he was aware of a black leather jacket coming to lean on the locker next door. Looking up to see the worried eyes of Jughead, Archie took a step back in uncomfort. "Well, you look rundown" he said in a way that was searching for humour but couldn't find any. Archie gave him a small smile as to leave the conversation before it started, proceeding in walking off to the biology classroom.

Archie counted his lucky stars that they were watching a documentary in Biology. But even with not having to use any brain power, he still felt his energy being drained. And the judging eyes of his friends, didn't help any. He knew they were only concerned, but it still bothered him. When the class was over and they all filed out into the hallway, he felt the group congregate around him as they headed toward the student lounge. No one said a word, and he knew that he was in for a lecture when they got there.

Sitting down on their usual couches, Archie braced himself for a telling off. He was surprised when it didn't come, and Veronica lead the group into asking Betty for details about the talent show. After momentarily zoning out, Archie was vaguely aware of Betty asking if he would be entering. Blinking to get his focus back he replied, "don' know." He had meant to elaborate, saying that he hadn't put much thought into it, but he ended up coughing instead. Clearing his throat, Archie nervously looked around at his friends, hoping that no one would say anything. Unfortunately, he next heard Veronica speaking out, "Archie, you really should go home." "I'm fine, Ronnie" he dismissed a bit tiredly. She opened her mouth to argue, closing it when he shot her a look that said _'enough,'_ a look that could even rival those of Jughead's. Forgetting the concept, the group continued to talk, dancing around the possibilities in the murder case. Each giving Archie a concerned look every time he turned away to cough. When the warning bell between classes sounded, they all gathered their things and went their separate ways to class.

On his way from Maths, Kevin stopped into the boy's bathroom to fix his hair. Walking past all but one empty stalls, he placed his maths books on the counter before meticulously restyling his hair. Leaning in towards the mirror for his final checks, Kevin was vaguely aware of sneezes sounding from the occupied stall. The chorus of sneezes began congested and trailed off into a deep gurgling nose blow, followed by an exhausted Archie Andrews exiting the stall. "Geezus, Kevin!" Archie jumped back in surprise, dissolving into a small fit of painful-sounding, rattling coughs. Archie ducked his head into his elbow, covering his nose and mouth, quickly silencing the fit into the jackets sleeve. "You okay?" Kevin asked, eyes wide in astonishment. Still struggling to stop coughing, Archie flashed him a thumbs-up, not able to verbally respond. "Yeah… You sound great." Kevin responded sarcastically smiling at him. "Look, you're going home. I'm taking you to the nurse" Kevin ordered, quickly taking Archie by the arm and leading him along before he could complain.

Walking through the corridors, Kevin stopped automatically when Jughead reached out to Archie's arm. "Archie, you look terrible. I thought you were doing better than this" Jughead looked at his friend in worry. "Yeah, and he sounds terrible too. Now let's get you to the nurse" Kevin rushed, preparing to drag Archie there before anyone could stop them. "Hold on, Kevin" Jughead halted, causing Kevin to roll his eyes and turn back to face him. "I can take him before English" he continued. "Nah, it's okay, I'll do it. I've got free period anyway" Kevin sighed in relief that Jughead wasn't trying to stop them. Jughead nodded, knowing it would be stupid to delay the journey any longer. With that Kevin pivoted on his heel and marched to the nurse's office, dragging Archie behind him.


	5. Fred

**Fred:**

Archie scowled as he trudged along the path to school, bitter emotions coursing through his veins. It was only a bit past 8:00 in the morning and already the day was terrible.

Earlier he had woken up as if his body was trying to kill itself. His throat was raw, and he could feel a heavy pulse in his head. He'd come down stairs to tell his dad that he wasn't feeling well and asked if he could stay home. The answer didn't come as he had expected. The words still echoed round his head, fuelling the fire in his attitude. But none the less, he trudged on through the school gates.

As per usual, he met his friends in he student lounge where they were sitting on the couches waiting for school to start. As soon as he walked in they all knew something was wrong, whether it was the paleness of his skin or the expression on his face, he still wasn't sure. "Rough morning" Jughead teased, from his place next to Betty. "Tell me about it" Archie sighed, slumping into an empty chair. "What happened?" Betty asked, after years and years of knowing Archie she had never really seen him this distraught. As Archie looked back up at his friends, he began explaining how his day had started so wrong. Going in to tell them how his dad had refused to let him stay home because he could no longer trust him.

"I can't trust you anymore, Archie" Fred had reprimanded. "You come home late, then sneak out to God knows where. You haven't been doing your homework – don't even try to deny it." He'd continued quickly. "I saw it in the trash in your room when I was up there yesterday. And then I talked to Betty's mum when I was getting the mail and she told me that Betty had been up late the other night, studying for a Biology test. I didn't see you studying for anything." He had paused for a moment trying to read his son's expression, seeing if any of the words would stick. "Get to school, we'll talk about this later" he had finished strongly, leaving no choice for Archie but to oblige without complaint.

His friends looked conflicted. They all knew that Archie snuck out at night to meet with them at Pop's, and that was wrong. But then again, they did it too, so they couldn't judge him for that. Although not doing homework was different. But looking at Archie's appearance, the slight pallor of his skin and flush to his cheeks, they had no choice but to side with him. "That's not fair" Veronica sympathised, "he should have known you were telling the truth." Archie only blinked in response, like he lost the will to talk. "You really don't look well, Archie. Maybe you should go home" Betty suggested to him. "I would but, he'd just send be back as soon as he hears the door open" Archie concluded, and as if on cue the bell rang.

Through out his classes Archie tried his best not to cough up a lung, or sniffle and sneeze everywhere. It was so hard to concentrate and by lunch he felt that he'd be able to sleep anywhere. "Archie, you really should go home" Betty repeated when she walked back into the student lounge from the Blue and Gold, to find Archie half asleep against the side of the couch. "We've tried that already, B." Veronica said from next to Archie, who Betty realised was rubbing small circles into his shoulder with her thumb. Betty looked like she wanted to push the matter further, "just let him sleep" Jughead interrupted, looking sincerely into her eyes and taking her hand.

Fred looked on from his position on the living room couch when he heard the door handle turn, to see Archie closing the door coughing congestedly into his elbow. A feeling of instant guilt washed over him, as he realised he was wrong. "Weren't kidding" the words slipped out of Fred's mouth before he had a chance to think. Archie shook his head as he tiredly hung his bag up on one of the hooks. Archie, although lacking the energy, had planned to walk through the front door all guns blazing, but when he saw the look of guilt and worry on his father's face the plan disappeared. "I'm sorry, Arch" Fred appologised sincerely, gesturing for his son to come over to him. As Archie approached him, Fred turned his body around to face him. When Archie stood across from him Fred reached his hand up to feel his forehead. The heat radiating onto the palm of his hand only deepened the feeling of guilt. Fred closed his eyes and sighed, _how did they get to be in such a mess?_ "Why don't you go have a shower, then come back down and watch the game with me?" Fred suggested, to which Archie gave a slight nod before heading upstairs.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Fred looked up at the stairs to see Archie bundled up in a grey hoodie having pulled the sleeves down to cover his hands. Fred shifted from his position on the couch to make room, so Archie could lie down. As he was settling down putting his head on Fred's lap, Fred changed the channel, the TV now showing commentators addressing cameras standing before a football field. Feeling him shivering, Fred pulled down the blanket that had been positioned over the back of the couch. "I really am sorry for the things I said, Arch. I should have known not to send you to school" Fred confessed, adjusting the blanket so it would cover Archie. "It's okay dad, I can see where you were coming from" Archie mumbled tiredly into his hands that were balled up covering the lower half of his face. "You don't have to. I was wrong and there is no excuse" Fred admitted looking down at his son, who nuzzled his head further into his father's lap as a note of forgiveness. Fred smiled slightly to himself as he knew his was forgiven, but his smile fell when coughs wracked and contracted Archie's body. "That's one hell of a cough you've got, bud" Fred noted as he stroked his hand up and down Archie's arm to sooth him. As the coughs died down Archie closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep. Fred didn't know how long he'd be out for, but he knew that when he woke up he would make it up to him.


End file.
